Aftermath
by lilbitstrange143
Summary: Sequel to "Why Don't You Date Her?" What happens after happily ever after? Derek and Casey are together, but how will they deal with the new level of their relationship, telling people, senior year/college, and everything else that comes their way? Dasey.
1. Day By Day

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Life With Derek. It'd be rockin' if I did though.  
**

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It was a peaceful Saturday at the MacDonald-Venturi household, almost a month after the now-infamous 'fights' between Derek Venturi and Josh Marshall had taken place (The Principal was kind enough not to call George and Nora, so Derek made up an excuse about his jaw). It was also almost a month since Derek and Casey were officially a twosome, though only a few select people knew. The pair had decided to keep things under wraps for a while as things calmed down. The football team, Josh included, was still furious that one of their star players had been taken off the team. Derek figured it was because they'd lost three games since, but had kept his mouth shut; he had no intentions of getting into another fight. Derek liked his face the way it was, and he was certain the Principal would not be so merciful to him a second time.

Nora, George, Edwin, Lizzie and Marti had gone out for brunch and to go grocery shopping. The house was unusually quiet because of this, and Casey took advantage of the situation by relaxing on the couch and catching up on some reading. She hadn't been in the mood to go out, and Derek had hockey practice that morning. He would be home soon, though, since it was nearly 12:30, and at the thought a smile appeared on Casey's face.

Since her and Derek had starting seeing each other, everything seemed to be in perfect order. Their relationship was very much like what it was before; they still fought with each other, but times like those were becoming fewer. Now they spent more time relaxing and just being together. There were still sarcastic comments and pranks, but now the motivation was either a cover or pure teasing. Casey had the protective, knight-like boyfriend she'd always wanted. And though he would never seem that way to most people, Derek could be very sweet. It just wasn't a trait he showed in public. From the other way around, Derek had a girlfriend who constantly challenged him, who didn't always agree and said what she thought. Casey toned Derek down to be slightly more aware of people's feelings, and Derek made Casey relax. He encouraged her to put down her books and have fun once in a while. Things were good.

Well, mostly. Besides waiting for things at school to subside, one of the main reasons Casey and Derek hadn't officially come out of a couple to really anyone besides Emily and Sam was the range of possible reactions to their relationship. Mostly from George and Nora.

No one had really been surprised so far, and the general response was positive. But George and Nora were different, they were their parents, and Casey was convinced once they knew there was going to be a big fight about it. Derek was also skeptic; he figured they would be shocked at first but he although they would eventually get used to the idea. Then again, he wasn't stupid. He knew that once it came out the two eldest step-siblings were dating, trust levels would drop a significant amount and they'd never be left home alone together again. The idea of being constantly chaperoned when you were home with your girlfriend wasn't a very tempting one.

After multiple conversations about the whole thing, Casey and Derek decided that until a more appealing alternative appeared, or until they decided the time was right, they wouldn't tell George and Nora. It would just seem as though the two had somehow become good friends. And, well, as for school, they didn't need to announce they were a couple. They would go on with their lives, and if people brought it up or asked about it, fine.

Suddenly, in the midst of her thoughts, Casey heard the door opening. There was the thump of a hockey bag, the sound of a familiar leather jacket hitting the coat rack, and then Derek appeared next to her.

"Hey," he said, kissing her before collapsing into his chair.

"Hey." She replied, before wrinkling her nose as she tilted her book down. "Um, did you shower after practice?" He shrugged.

"No."

"Der-ek! Ever heard of personal hygiene? There are showers in the locker room for a reason, you know."

"Yeah, I know," He replied. "But the family is out, and we have the chance to spend some time together, so I decided to shower here."

"Alright. Go shower, then." She said, moving her attention back to her book.

"Casey." He groaned. "I don't smell that bad." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, maybe I smell, but I've hardly seen you since Wednesday. If you really cared about me it wouldn't matter." His tone was mock offended, but there a hint of sincerity in his voice that Casey easily detected. It didn't help that he's crossed his arms and looked away, even if he wasn't totally serious, because it had the same desired affect on Casey. She predictably gave in, the ends of her mouth curving into a smile.

"Fine." She said, and a grin appeared on Derek's face as he jumped onto the couch with Casey and wrapped an arm around her. "But that doesn't mean you can lean all over me!" It was clear that within the past couple of weeks she had somehow managed to get him to expose his softer side more often. "Der-ek! You're going to get me all sweaty!" She exclaimed, trying to move away.

"Then you can shower too." Casey smacked his arm, but he didn't remove himself from around her. "I meant after I was done, Space Case. Besides, you'd take up all the warm water."

"I would not." She huffed, finally sitting still.

"Right. Of course not." Derek laughed, rolling his eyes. "So, what've you been up to? Reading?" He leaned forward to read the title of her book. "The Collected Works of Robert Frost? The guy from our English class?"

"He happens to write beautiful poems." Casey replied, a little defensively.

"I trust your judgment." Derek said, easing up on the teasing in his tone. "I'm sure he writes great stuff, but do you think you can put Frost down and pay some attention to me?"

"Conceited much?" She remarked, putting the book down.

"Yes, but obviously not enough to get you away from me." Casey gave Derek a knowing look: there it was. The Derek side to Derek, the side everyone knew him by. He grinned at her and laid back on the couch, pulling her closer; after a moment she responded by laying her head back on his shoulder. It was a rarer moment, and when they looked at each other it was mere seconds before they were kissing. But they weren't there for long when they heard the sound of a car in the driveway. "No way. They're home already?" Derek said, breaking away and sitting up. He gave a frustrated groan. "Not. Fair."

"Don't worry, they're bound to go out again. If not, we can go upstairs or--"

"But that's what we always do!" Derek exclaimed, frustrated. "No. That's it. Our relationship is not going to be nothing but stealing time to sit around or watch movies in my room. I'm showering, and then you and me are going out. I don't care where, but this house is no longer Derek and Casey dating land." He got up. "You have 30 minutes," he pointed to her, "and then we're leaving." He grabbed his bag and stormed upstairs in a determined manner. All Casey could do was watch him; he'd never done anything like that before.

"Derek and Casey dating land?" She repeated the phrase, laughing a little. She could never understand where he came up with stuff like that. But her attention was diverted by George's voice in the kitchen.

"Anyone home?" He called.

"I'm here, George!" Casey called back. She got up and went into the kitchen to help. "You guys are back early." She commented, grabbing a few grocery bags from him as the rest of the family piled in.

"We had to cut grocery shopping short." Nora said as she entered, holding a small figure in her arms: Marti.

"My tummy hurts." She whimpered, nuzzling against Nora's shoulder.

"Marti, what happened?" Casey asked, walking over to her.

"We think she ate something bad." Nora explained.

"She was the only one to have eggs to eat." Edwin commented as he shoved a gallon of milk into the refrigerator.

"Aw, Marti, I'm sorry." Casey said, rubbing the little girl's back. She looked at Nora. "Do you want me to take her upstairs and get her some medicine?"

"Sure." Nora nodded, gently handing Marti over. "Thanks, Casey. I'll be up to check on her in a bit."

Casey brought Marti as far as the bathroom, where they heard the shower, when Marti lifted her head slightly.

"Who's that?" She sniffled, holding onto Casey a little tighter.

"It's okay Marti, that's just Derek." The little girls eyes lit up a little.

"Smerek?!" She exclaimed, before taking in a sharp breath and calming down again. Casey could tell her stomach was really hurting, and that all this little girl wanted was for her big brother to make her feel better.

"It's okay, Marti, I'll get him." She smiled. Casey knocked on the door a few times until the water stopped. "Derek!" Casey said through the door. Derek finally opened it, just a towel wrapped around him. Casey blushed.

"Space Case, why aren't you getting--" It was then that he saw Smarti, **his** Smarti, cuddled against Casey looking as sad as he'd ever seen her. "Smarti? What's wrong?"

"She ate something bad at Brunch and isn't feeling well." Casey explained. "I was going to put her to bed, but when she found out you were home she wanted you." She knew they weren't going anywhere until Smarti felt better and Derek was satisfied with the situation.

"Give me one sec." Derek said immediately, going back into the bathroom. Moments later he came back in a pair of jeans, a shirt in his hand that he hadn't yet put on. "It's rude to stare, Casey." He smirked, and she realized she'd been staring. He threw the t-shirt on as Casey rolled her eyes and handed Marti over to Derek.

"Smerek." She said, her voice quiet as she grabbed onto him tightly.

"Hey, Smarti." He said, holding her close. "How're you feeling?"

"Not so good." She said with a frown, and Derek went into protective mode.

"Don't worry, Smarti, I'm right here." He held her a little tighter. "C'mon, let's get you to bed."

They went to Marti's room, had her change into more comfortable clothes and gave her some medicine for her stomach. Casey went downstairs to grab Marti some juice, and when she came back upstairs she stopped outside the door. Marti was sleeping, and Derek was reading her a story. She took a step into the room, and Derek glanced up.

"Good story." Casey said, smiling.

"Yeah, Beauty and the Beast is her favorite." He replied with a goofy smile as he ran a hand through his hair. Derek put the book, a collection of Disney stories, down on Marti's nightstand. They carefully turned off the light and went out into the hallway.

"Nice work, big brother." Casey teased. Everyone knew that Marti was Derek's big soft spot. He would do anything for her, and Casey couldn't help but notice how adorable he was when he took care of her.

"Thanks. I hate it when she doesn't feel good, but she's Smarti. She'll be alright." Derek said with a small sigh as he glanced back toward her room. Casey couldn't help but appreciate times like these; there weren't many other guys out there that would do this. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and moved to go downstairs. "Wait, aren't you going to get ready to go out? Or are you going to wear sweats?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. Casey turned around.

"I figured we'd be staying in." Derek shook his head.

"No, no, it's okay. She'll sleep for a while, Dad and Nora can keep an eye on her, and I'll take over when we get back. She'll be alright. Besides, I don't count putting Smarti to bed as us time."

"Are you sure? I'm fine if you want to stay home." Derek rolled his eyes.

"Casey."

"What?"

"Go get ready." Casey hesitated, looking at him, but after a moment she slowly went into her room. Derek watched her go, and smiled. He went into his room to grab his keys and wallet, checked in on Smarti again and then went downstairs to wait.

"Derek, I didn't know you were home." George said when he saw Derek coming downstairs. They'd long since finished putting the groceries away, and George and Nora were sitting on the couch; George was watching TV and Nora was skimming through a magazine. Who knew were Edwin and Lizzie were.

"I was upstairs taking a shower." Derek said, pausing. "Casey and I put Smarti to bed, she's sleeping."

"Thank you, Derek." Nora said, looking up at him. He nodded and took a seat in his chair, waiting for Casey, and about 15 minutes later she appeared, wearing form fitting jeans, a tank top and a small jacket to match. She'd let her hair down, and the big curls fell around her face perfectly. This time it was Derek who had to keep himself from staring. How did she do that?

"Hey, Casey." Nora said, looking over at her. "Going somewhere?" Casey and Derek exchanged a look, which Nora saw. "Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." Derek said after a moment. "Me and Case are going out." He cleared his throat. "To go shopping. I mean I…wanted to get Smarti something to try to make her feel better." George's attention had moved from the TV to Derek by this point, so he had both parents staring at him and wondering why he acting so strange.

"And I need to stop by the mall." Casey suddenly said. "But jerk face here doesn't want me to take the car." She feigned being annoyed and crossed her arm. "So he's driving." Had Derek not known the reality of the situation, he would have honestly thought she was angry.

"It's my turn on the schedule, Spacey." He shot back. "I don't want you taking any detours in case I need The Prince." She rolled her eyes.

"Can we just go? I don't need to be stuck out with you all day."

"Fine by me Princess." Just as he were about to grab the doorknob of the front door, they heard George.

"Derek?" They both turned around.

"Yeah?" Derek asked.

"Can you pick up some eggs on your way home? We forgot to grab some."

"Sure." He replied, relieved. Once they were in the car, Derek turned to Casey and smiled. "Nice work."

"Thanks," She replied. "So what are you going to get Marti?" Casey asked in a light, knowing tone. Derek stopped, looked at her and realized what she meant. He gave a slight groan after a moment.

"Why can't we come up with a better excuse than shopping when we want to go out? I've spent more money buying stuff so we can go out than what I actually spend on us."

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**Hey everyone! Here is the first chapter of the sequel to _Why Don't You Date Her? _I haven't finished figuring out the whole plot for this one, but it's gonna go through their relationship, jealousy (this includes Casey becoming jealous of other girls around Derek too!), how they tell people, how various people react, their senior year, college choices, etc etc. The big focus for the first few chapters, I think, will be about George and Nora finding out.  
**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! I thought I'd start it off by showing where they stand and how they've grown to deal with things as a couple, and how to better do that than by bringing our beloved Smarti into the mix? As always, I love reviews!! Thanks guys! 3**


	2. Should We Have Seen This Coming?

**Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own it.**

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Derek and Casey didn't get home until it was almost dinner time; they stopped by the mall and picked up a small teddy bear for Smarti and a few small things for Casey. That didn't take long, so they spent the day relaxing, away from prying eyes and having to make excuses. After bickering for a few minutes, they ended up going to the park. Derek had thought it was too much of a romantic, _sappy_ place to go, but he couldn't think of anywhere to go, so the park won.

Taking a walk on one of the many pathways, Derek found it wasn't so bad. They had the opportunity to talk, hold hands, and, whenever Derek could get the chance, kiss. Basically everything they couldn't do at home. Despite his newfound sappy tendencies, however, Derek would never stop teasing and pulling pranks on Casey. It brought too much to their relationship. After they got deep into the park's many winding paths he pretended to lose her a few times, bought a fake spider while she was in the bathroom and scared her with it once or twice, and he picked her up and threatened to throw her into the lake one of the paths went around. Casey knew he was kidding, of course, but she couldn't help but freak out.

It had been a good day, but they'd forgotten to turn off the smiles and relaxed air about them when they got home, and it made George and Nora wonder.

"Hey," Casey said, a big smile on her face as she and Derek walked in.

"Dad. Nora." Derek chimed in, looking pretty content.

"Where've you two been?" George said, sitting up. "You've been gone all day." Casey and Derek stopped and looked at each other.

"We were at the mall." Casey said, straightening up to her full height. "Shopping."

"Lunch." Derek added, tossing his coat over to the rack to avoid eye contact.

"A call would have been nice." Nora said, looking at them both.

"Sorry, mom." Casey said, placing her coat on the rack.

"Did you buy eggs like I asked?" George inquired, though his tone knew the answer. Derek grimaced and smacked his forehead. "I didn't think so."

"We can go back out and get some," Casey insisted.

"How's Smarti doing?" Derek asked, trying to change the subject. Nora sighed.

"Not too good. She's has a fever, and it hasn't gotten better." Derek's face fell, and as if right on cue, they could hear Marti.

"Daddy!" The little girl cried, obviously not enjoying having to be so loud. But before either Nora or George could move, Derek was bounding up the stairs without a word. Casey paused.

"I'll…go give him a hand," She remarked, moving over to the stairs, and she was also gone before anyone could say anything.

"What _was _that?" George asked.

"I don't know," Nora replied, still looking at the stairs. "Maybe they just--" Suddenly there was the sound of scribbling behind them. She turned and saw two figures under the dining room table. "Lizzie? Edwin?" The two froze, slowly looking up.

"What are you two doing?" George asked. Lizzie and Edwin looked at each other.

"We're…" Edwin cleared his throat. "Making observations."

"Private observations." Lizzie added.

"Observations? About what? Who?" George, said looking around. He paused. "Us?"

"No." Edwin snorted. "Why would we observe you, you're already a coupl-- Ow!" He was cut shot by an elbow in the ribs from Lizzie. He glared at her, but she simply picked up their binder and got out from under the table.

"Observations about the household. C'mon Edwin." Edwin was still rubbing his ribs, but slowly followed her after a moment. Nora and George looked at each other.

"What _was _that?" George asked, shaking his head. "I don't think any of our kids have got things straight. No one--" He realized his wife wasn't listening. "Nora?" She sat there, as though making calculations in her head.

"No, that would be ridiculous." She finally said, more to herself than him. "But what if…" Nora paused, and came back to reality. "George."

"Nora?" He asked, confused. Nora peered over at the stairs, making sure no one was coming downstairs. She turned to him.

"Remember what Edwin said." Blank stare from George. "After you asked him what they were making observations on." Still no response. Nora sighed. "When he started to say 'Why would be observe you, you're already a cou-' but Lizzie cut him off." As usual, George was slow to catch on. "I think he was going to say 'a couple'." She looked at him expectantly.

"Well, we _are_ a couple, Nora. We're married." He laughed. "What about it?"

"It would mean they were observing people they think _will_ be a couple." Nora raised her eyebrows at him. "Who are the other people in this house, George? The two who aren't you, me, Edwin or Lizzie?" Pause. "We _just_ saw them, and it doesn't include Marti." George thought about it, then started laughing.

"You mean…" He started, his face glowing with realization. "Derek and Casey? But that's…"

"They haven't been fighting that much lately, George, and they're spending more time together. You yourself were just saying how they seem to be becoming good friends." Nora crossed her arms.

"No _way_." He was pointing around, and almost every word coming out of his mouth was stuttered. "Couple? But they-- and we're--" He paused, and gained control of himself. "You really think so?" Nora nodded slightly.

"I think there's a good chance." Nora started. "It makes sense, you know. The past few weeks they've been going out together more, spending more time together at home. Derek's grades have even gotten a little better." Nora put her hand on George's thigh and gave it a comforting pat. "We'll have to talk to them."

"_Nora_." George whined. "What are we going to say?"

"First we need to find out if it's true." She said thinking. "But more importantly, if it is true, what's our reaction?"

"Let's take this one step at a time, okay?" George said, waving his arms back and forth. It was a lot to take in, and adjustment time was necessary.

"Fine. Go up and talk to Derek and send Casey down to me, alright?" Nora stated. George nodded and slowly started to go upstairs.

"You know," He said, stopping for a moment. "Actually, if you think about it, it might not be a bad thing." Nora gave him a questioning look.

"In what way?"

"Well, does it stop the fighting?" Nora shifted a little uncomfortably.

"Mostly."

"Do they seem happier than they've **ever** been since we got married?"

"I suppose so--"

"I know they act like an old married couple," George started, turning to face Nora. "But isn't that a sure sign of affection?"

"…Yes."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? It may take some adjusting to, but they're _happy_." Nora paused, and after a moment simply nodded, overwhelmed by her husband's sudden philosophical perspective on the situation. "At least things will stay interesting." Nora just looked at him, leaning her head on one of her hands.

"Should we have seen this coming?" There was a long pause.

"Probably." George turned and started humming a little on his way upstairs. All Nora could do was watch his go.

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**Here it is, chapter 2. It's a bit shorter than the 1st chapter, but the next couple chapters will definitely be longer and VERY interesting (sorta like Derek v. George and Casey v. Nora in a fashion). Hope you enjoyed this George and Nora moment/chapter. The next part will be up soon, and don't forget I LOVE reviews and hearing what you think. **


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